Professional Life

Home > Professional Life

1968 Wodonga High School female staff - Lois and Kath Roberts are in the middle row18 viewsLois started her teaching career in 1968, being sent to Flemington HS. After only 2 weeks there, she was sent to Wodonga High School, where she spent a very happy 3 years. You had to go where you were sent, no questions asked. She was told on the Friday that she would be starting at Wodongo HS on the following Monday morning.
During her first year in Wodonga, she boarded. In her second year she shared a rental house with some other teachers and in the third year, she boarded with June and Ted Robertson. We have remained firm friends with the Robertsons ever since.
This is where she met Kath Roberts, another first year teacher up from Melbourne. Thus another life long friendship was kindled.

1969 Wodonga High School Volleyball Coach19 viewsDuring her first 3 years of teaching at Wodonga, she taught Y11 and Y12 Accounting and Economics, Y11 Typing and Shorthand, Commercial Principles and Practice, Typing and Communication, and a mixture of Y9 and 10 Commercial subjects. And took her fair share of sport! Not too bad for a young girl in her very early twenties!

1971 Lois graduates with a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University18 views

1971 Lois graduates with a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University21 views

1971 Lois in Wilpena Pound, Flinders Ranges, before the tent collapsed80 viewsDuring her time in Wodonga, Loisembarked on a cross country expedition Jenny and Kath and Sandra, another friend. When camping at the Wilpena Pound in the Flinders Ranges in remote South Australia, they were taken under the wings of a group of scouts who took it upon themselves to help these young city girls. Their tent failed them in a heavy storm, and they had to endure a night in their small car.

1971 Lois out camping21 views

1971 Niddrie High School Form 5A Form Teacher36 viewsIn 1971, Lois returned to Melbourne from Wodonga, teaching full time at Niddrie HS and completing that one final University subject to complete her degree, a Bachelor of Commerce.

1976 Year 7B Class Mistress at Braemar College, Mt Macedon35 viewsIn the 1975 Christmas holidays, Lois saw an advertisement for a new Christian Community school called Braemar College, about to start in Mt Macedon, replacing the old Clyde College. She was successful in her application and she moved to Mt Macedon in early 1976, where she rented an outhouse in one of the properties on the mount.
Her time there was busy by any standard, with Y12 Commercial and Legal Studies, Y11 Accounting, Economics, Commercial and Legal Studies and Typing, along with Y7 Biblical Studies. Add in roles as Commerce Coordinator, Bookshop Coordinator and Camp Coordinator and you start to wonder how she survived. But survive she did, and thrived.

1977 Format portrait of Lois21 viewsI think this format portrait of Lois was taken while she was at Braemar College, so in either 1976 or 1977.

1977 Year 11 Class Mistress at Braemar College, Mt Macedon19 views

1978 Lois as part of the staff at St Bernard's College in Essendon21 viewsLois, along with fellow Braemar teacher Marg Brickhill, signed on at St Bernard’s College in West Essendon, a Catholic boys school for the start of the 1978 school year. She was certainly garnering a wide variety of teaching jobs! As usual, her load included Y11 and Y12 Accounting, along with Y11 Econmics. Lois was now a senior teacher and her teaching duties reflected her seniority, albeit still relatively young There she met her Tim, a romance blossomed and they were married at St Linus Church in Merlynston on 23rd December 1978.

2006-03-09 Honouring Women in Moreland annual awards presentations6 views2006-03-09 2006 saw Lois nominated for the annual Honouring Women in Moreland Awards for facilitating educational opportunities. This recognised her 23 years of service to the St Linus Kindergarten in Coburg North. This photo was taken at the Presentations night in March 2006.

2006-06-25 Lois graduates with her Bachelor of Laws (With Honours)19 viewsOnce Lois was finally admitted to the Law degree course at Victoria University, she studied hard in 2002, 2003 and 2004, earning a pleasing mix of High Distinctions and Distinctions and finishing her Bachelor of Laws (With Honours) in 2005.

2006-06-25 Lois graduates with her Bachelor of Laws (With Honours)2 viewsOnce Lois was finally admitted to the Law degree course at Victoria University, she studied hard in 2002, 2003 and 2004, earning a pleasing mix of High Distinctions and Distinctions and finishing her Bachelor of Laws (With Honours) in 2005.

2006-11-01 Lois with her the Leo Cussen Institute graduation group 21 viewsThis photo was taken at Leo Cussen Graduate Diploma Presentations on 1st November 2006.
Back: Daniel Epstein, Van Le, Christian Drakopoulos, Monique Sweetland, Alex Grinstein, Cara Kwok, Ching-Fei Chiu, Priscilla Floyd, Laurie Wengrow (Mentor)
Front: Stuart Smith, Lois, George Douglas, Allison Chong, Rene Van de Rijdt

2006-11-14 Lois is admitted as an Australian Lawyer on 14th November 2006 at the Supreme Court of Victoria 120 viewsShe was finally admitted to the legal profession as an Australian Lawyer on 14th November 2006, probably the proudest moment in her long professional life. 12 months later, she was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor. Not that she wanted to do court work or aspired to Private Practice. She saw her role as a Community Lawyer and she had a foot in the door with her role at the Broadmeadows Community Legal Service.

2006-11-14 Lois is admitted as an Australian Lawyer on 14th November 2006 at the Supreme Court of Victoria 221 views

2007 Lois working at the Law Foundation - at a seminar in this photo22 viewsOnce Lois completed her Law degree and legal training, she took on a role as the Education Projects Officer at the Victoria Law Foundation.

18 files on 1 page(s)